# Arcane vs PaddleOCR

> Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.

| | Arcane | PaddleOCR |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 76/100 | 85/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #2 of 44 in Container Management | #1 of 4 in OCR |
| GitHub stars | 8 107 | 91 938 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | +514 ✓ | +497 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 31 ✓ | 7 |
| Latest release | v2.17.1 · 25 Oct 2026 ✓ | v3.7.0 · 11 Jun 2026 |
| Setup | Easy ✓ | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | Yes ✓ | No |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Go | Python |

## Which one should you pick?

PaddleOCR scores 85/100 against 76/100 for Arcane, so it is the safer default.

Arcane ships more often: 31 stable releases in the past year, against 7 for PaddleOCR.

If you want the quickest setup, Arcane is easier to run; PaddleOCR needs more configuration.

## Details

- [Arcane](https://selfhost.directory/project/arcane) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/arcane.md)
- [PaddleOCR](https://selfhost.directory/project/paddleocr) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/paddleocr.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/arcane-vs-paddleocr